The Jesus of Christianity

Vs
The Jesus of Mormonism


The Jesus WE KNOW contrasted to the "Jesus" of Mormonism.
The one true
Jesus of the BIBLE, of all eternity God the Son, who
died that we may have
eternal life; who paid the price of all
sins; who has entered our lives and is
walking with us in a
personal relationship day by day -- is not known in
Mormonism.
The Jesus of Mormonism is an entirely different "Jesus". Let's

examine what the leaders and prophets - the foundation of the
Latter Day
Saints Church - have said:

"When the time came that His First-Born,
the Saviour, should
come into the world and take a tabernacle, the Father
Himself
came and favored the Spirit with a tabernacle instead of letting
any
other MAN do it. .... The Saviour was begotten by the Father
of His spirit,
by the same being who is the Father of our
spirits, and that is all the
organic difference between Jesus
Christ and you and me." BRIGHAM YOUNG,
Journal of Discourses,
4:218

"The fleshly body of Jesus required a
Mother as well as a
Father. Therefore, the Father and Mother of Jesus,
according to
the flesh, must have been associated together in the capacity
of
Husband and Wife; hence the Virgin Mary must have been, for the
time
being, the lawful wife of God the Father." ORSON PRATT, The
Seer, pg 158


"Christ was begotten by an immortal Father in the same way
that mortal men
are begotten by mortal fathers --- And Christ was
born into the world as the
Literal Son of this Holy Being; He was
born in the same personal, real, and
literal sense that any
mortal son is born of a mortal father. There is
nothing
figurative about his paternity; He was begotten, conceived and
born
in the normal and natural course of events, for He is the
Son of God, and that
designation means what it says." BRUCE R.
McCONKIE, Mormon Doctrine, pg
547,742

Brigham Young, to be consistent with his "Adam-God"
doctrine,
believed Adam was the literal father of Jesus Christ:
"When the Virgin
Mary conceived the child Jesus, the Father
had begotten him in his own
likeness. He was not begotten by the
Holy Ghost. And who is the Father? He is
the first of the human
family ... Jesus, our elder brother, was begotten in
the flesh by
the same character that was in the Garden of Eden, and who is
our
Father in Heaven." BRIGHAM YOUNG, Journal of Discourses, 1:50,51

As
is evident in these statements, there is no Virgin Birth
in Mormonism. On the
other hand, the Bible clearly shows us:

Matthew 1:18 Mary with child of the
Holy Spirit
1:20 That which is conceived in her is of the Holy

Spirit
1:23 Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a
son
Luke 1:35 The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the

power of the Most High will overshadow you

Further, the
"Jesus" of Mormonism was married in polygamy
and had children. This had to be
so to be consistent with the
doctrines of Joseph Smith, Junior. As Joseph
reports as a
"revelation" given him by God on July 12,1843: "I am the Lord
thy
God .. obey the instructions I am about to give unto you .. if ye
abide
not that covenant, then ye are damned; for no one can
reject this covenant and
be permitted to enter my Glory .. verily
I say unto you, if man marry a wife
by my word, which is my law,
and by the new and everlasting covenant .. they
shall be gods ..
And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood if any
man
espouses a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first
give her
consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are
virgins, and have vowed to
no other man, then he is justified ..
and if he have ten virgins given unto
him by the law, he cannot
commit adultery, for they belong to him." JOSEPH
SMITH, Doctrine
& Covenants, 132:2,3,4,19,20,61,62

"It will be borne in
mind that once on a time, there was a
marriage in Cana of Galilee, and on a
careful reading of that
transaction, it will be discovered that no less a
person than
Jesus Christ was married on that occasion." ORSON HYDE, Journal

of Discourses, 13:259
"How was it with Mary and Martha, and other women
that
followed Him? In old times, and it is common to this day, the
women,
even Sarah, called their husbands 'LORD' .. Jesus was the
bridegroom at the
marriage of Cana of Galilee .. We say it was
Jesus Christ who was married, to
be brought into relation whereby
he could see his seed, before He was
crucified .. I shall say
here, that before the Saviour died, he looked upon
His own
natural children, as we look upon ours." ORSON HYDE, Journal of

Discourses, 2:81,82

The Bible states that Jesus is God the Son --
eternally
existent with God the Father -- yet Mormon doctrine says Jesus
was
a spirit offspring of the Father; that Lucifer was the second
spirit offspring
(THEY WERE BROTHERS?!); followed by billions
more - or each of us, for
instance. We are "brothers" and
"sisters" of Jesus Christ. Jesus is not the
only begotten Son in
Mormon Theology: "It makes me think of that second person
that
came forth in the heavens when the voice went forth: 'Who will
redeem
the earth, who will go forth and make the sacrifice for
the earth and all
things it contains ?'. The Eldest son said:
'Here am I'; but he did not say
'send me'. But the second one,
which was 'Lucifer, Son of the Morning', said,
'Lord, here am I,
send me, I will redeem every son and daughter of Adam and
Eve
that lives on the earth." BRIGHAM YOUNG, Journal of Discourses,
13:282

"The appointment of Jesus to be Saviour of the world was
contested by one
of the other sons of God. He was called Lucifer,
Son of the Morning .... this
spirit brother of Jesus desperately
tried to become the Saviour of Mankind.
MILTON R. HUNTER (First
Council of 70) The Gospel Through the Ages, pg 15
[1958]
"Jesus Christ is also of our species .. I have heard
sectarian
priest undertake to tell the character of the Son of
God, and they make him
half of one species and half of another,
and I could not avoid thinking at
once of a mule." BRIGHAM YOUNG,
Journal of Discourses, 4:217
"There is no
impropriety ... in speaking of Jesus Christ as
the elder brother of the rest
of human kind." JAMES TALMAGE,
ARTICLES OF FAITH, pg 473

In Mormonism,
Jesus was a created being: "Jesus is man's
spiritual brother. We dwelt with
Him in the spirit world as
members of that large society of our eldest
brother." MILTON R.
HUNTER, Gospel Through the Ages, pg 21
"The devil is
a spirit son of God who was born in the
morning of pre-existence." BRUCE R.
McCONKIE, Mormon Doctrine,
"Devil", 1966 edition, pg 192
"There are three
Gods - the Father, Son and Holy Ghost."
BRUCE R. McCONKIE, Mormon
Doctrine,"God", pg 317

The REAL JESUS, the ONLY Son of God and God the
Son, is
proclaimed throughout the BIBLE! Look up these references and
tie-ins
of Old and New testaments declaring Jesus' Divinity and
NOT being created:


LOOK UP and COMPARE WITH

Psalm 24:10 I
Corinthians 2:8
Psalm 45:6,7 Hebrews 1:8
Isaiah 8:13
I Peter 2:8
Isaiah 40:3 Matthew 3:3

Malachi 3:1 Matthew 11:10
Psalm 102:27
Hebrews 13:8
James 1:17
Psalm
102:25 Colossians 1:16
Psalm 102:26 Matthew
24:35
2 Peter 3:7,10

JOHN 1:1-3,14
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was
God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by Him; and
without Him was not
anything made that was made ... And the Word was made
flesh, and
dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the Glory as of the
ONLY
begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
COLOSSIANS 1:15 "Who
is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn of every creature" [Here
'firstborn' does not mean
first 'spirit-child', rather a position of high
honor - see verse
18, Hebrews 12:23, revelation 1:5, and Psalm 89:27]. The
next
verses, 16 and 17, tell us, "For in Him were all things created,
that
are in heaven, and that are on the earth ... All things were
created by Him,
and for Him: And He is before all things, and by
Him all things consist."

HEBREWS 1:10 "Thou, Lord (Jesus), in the beginning hast
laid the
foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of
thine hands."
In
Isaiah 44:24 God tells us that He "stretched forth the
heavens alone; that
spreadeth abroad the earth by myself." Jesus,
who IS the TRUTH and God the
Father "have no lies within them"
and are INCAPABLE OF TELLING A LIE. Jesus is
God the Son,
eternally One with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and not be

confused. God the Son is not God the Father and God the father is
not God the
Holy Spirit, but each entity is a part of the ONE
TRUE AND LIVING GOD.

ISAIAH 9:6 "For unto us a child is born ... his name shall
be called
Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God, The everlasting
Father, The Prince of
Peace."
MICAH 5:2 "Whose goings forth have been from of old, from

everlasting."
MATTHEW 28:18 "And Jesus came and spake unto them,
saying,
'All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."
PHILIPPIANS
2:6-10 "Who, being in the form of God, though
it not robbery to be equal with
God: ... was made in the likeness
of men ... became obedient unto death, even
the death of the
cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exaulted him ... That
at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow ....".
Compare to Isaiah
45:22,23 for if Jesus is not God, then we
worship two (or more) Gods! The
Mormons, basically, do not
worship Jesus, or pray to Him, only "through"
Him.)
COLOSSIANS 2:9 "For in Him dwelleth the fullness of the
Godhead
bodily"
HEBREWS 1:3 "... The express image of His person ...."
JOHN
5:23 "That all men should honor the Son, even as they
honor the Father. He
that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the
Father which hath sent Him."

JOHN 20:28 "And Thomas answered and said unto Him, 'My Lord
and my God'"


Jesus used the same descriptions of himself; I AM, ALPHA and
OMEGA,
FIRST and LAST; as used by God the Father:

JESUS SAYING
GOD

JOHN 8:58 I AM EXODUS
3:14,15
REV 22:13,16 ALPHA AND OMEGA REV 1:8 & 21:6
REV
1:17 REVELATION 21:6
2:8 FIRST
AND LAST ISAIAH 44:6
22:13
48:12

Jesus is GOD the SON!
Eternally God and not after, or
created by, or a spirit child of God! Our
Jesus is NOT the
"Jesus" of Mormonism, and we are empowered, if we have
accepted
the true Jesus into our hearts, to give Thanks unto God for

selecting us to reveal His True Son to us. HALLELUJAH and AMEN
!!!

Computers
For Christ

THE NATURE OF GOD

There is but ONE
GOD. The BIBLE states that there has been,
and presently is, and always will
be only ONE GOD. History and
the BIBLE show that the Jewish people always
believed in ONE GOD
of the UNIVERSE. The Jewish nation; However, was lured,
time and
time again, into going after "other gods" that were worshipped by

the people surrounding Israel. That was the sin GOD hated and
punished them
for practicing. (Jeremiah 2:11 11:9-13 19:13)
In direct contrast,
MORMONISM has a basic belief in many
gods. The Father, Son and Holy Ghost (in
Mormonism) are three
separate gods. There were gods before them and will be
gods to
follow: "If we should take a million worlds like this and number

their particles, we should find that there are more gods than
there are
particles of matter in those worlds." JOURNAL OF
DISCOURSES, Vol 2, page 345
[Feb 1855] Orson Pratt
"Many men say there is one God; the Father, the
Son, and the
Holy Spirit are only one God. I say that is a strange God,
anyhow
- Three in one and one in three. It is a curious organization ...
all
are to be crammed into one God, according to sectarianism. It
would make the
biggest God in all the world ... he would be a
giant or a monster." TEACHING
OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH, page
372; HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, Vol 6, page 476

"In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of
the Gods, and
they came together and concocted a plan to create
the world and people it."
JOURNAL OF DISCOURSES, JOSEPH SMITH,
Vol 6, page 5; HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, Vol
6, page 308

Mormons will say they worship only one God; But, whether

they worship them or not, believing in the valid existence of
many gods -- of
the same authority and reality of the one God --
makes you a polytheist!

False Prophets have always led the people of history (and
the current
peoples of the earth) to go after other gods
(Deuteronomy 13:1 to 13). God's
strongest wrath was then and is
now upon people who worship or believe in
other gods (Jeremiah
16:10 to 13 and 22:8 & 9).
Mormonism teaches that
"Father God" is married and has many
wives: "In the heaven where our spirits
were born, there are many
Gods, each of whom has his own wife or wives, which
were given to
him previous to his redemption while yet in his mortal state."

THE SEER, Orson Pratt, page 37
Look up John 10:34 used by Mormons to
justify a belief in
"many Gods". Jesus, there, is quoting Psalm 82 in which
the
judges were referred to as "gods" -- but were wicked and unjust
and "die
like all men".
Anytime the word "gods" occur in the BIBLE it must be

verified in context as referring to the idols, satanic princes or
counterfeit
gods - (Isaiah 41:23 and 24 and 45:20).

IN CONTRAST The BIBLE states
throughout there is but ONE
GOD! Look up these verses:

ISAIAH 43:10-11
"Before me NO god was formed, nor after"
44: 6-8 "I am the first and
the last, beside me no
other"
45: 5-6 "I am the
Lord, and there is no other"
45:18-22 "HE created the heavens and
earth-there is no
other"
DEUT 6:4 "Hear O Israel, the
Lord our God is one Lord"
32:39 "There is no god beside me"
PSALM
86:10 "Thou alone art God"
MARK 12:29 "Jesus said, the Lord our God
is one; no other"
GAL 3:20 "God is one"
JAMES 2:19 "You believe
God is one - you do well"
EPH 4:5-6 "One God and Father of us all"
I COR
8:4-6 "There is no god but me"

GOD IS INFINITE: The BIBLE states
that God has always been
the same from all time in eternity past and does not
change. In
direct opposition to this, the Mormon Church has the basic belief

that God was once a man, with many gods before Him and many gods
to come after
Him. They further believe that God is progressing
to higher levels of power
and ability: "God himself was once as
we are now, and is an exalted Man, and
sits enthroned in yonder
heavens ... it is necessary that we should understand
the
character and being of God, and how He came to be so; for I am
going to
tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and
supposed that God was
God from all eternity. I will refute that
idea, and will take away the veil,
so that you may see ... he was
once a man like us; yea, that God himself the
Father of us all,
dwelt on an earth the same as Jesus Christ did. "TEACHINGS
OF THE
PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH, page 345; JOURNAL OF DISCOURSES Vol 6, page
3;
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, Vol 6, page 305
"As man is, God once was; as God
is, man may become." THE
GOSPEL THROUGH THE AGES, Milton R. Hunter, pages 105
& 106
"Our Eternal Father has attained His position of exaltation
and
Godhood by obedience to the great law of progression ... was
once a mortal man
who passed through a school of earth-life
similar to that which we are now
passing." THE GOSPEL THROUGH THE
AGES, Milton R. Hunter, pages 12 & 104

"Through modern revelations we learn that the universe is
filled with vast
numbers of intelligences, and we further learn
that Elohim is God simply
because all of these intelligences
honor and sustain him as such --- But God
acquired the honor and
sustaining influence of 'all things'. It follows as a
corrolary
that if He should ever do anything to violate the confidence of

'sense of justice' of these intelligences, they would promptly
withdraw their
support, and the 'power' of God would disintegrate
--- He would cease to be
God. Our Heavenly Father can do only
those things which the intelligences
under Him are voluntarily
willing to support Him in accomplishing." THE FIRST
2000 YEARS,
W. Cleon Skousen *,pages 355,356 *=FREEMEN INSTITUTE PRESIDENT &

B.Y.U. Professor

Mormonism teaches that God is confined to a body of
flesh
and bones. He is at a particular place at a particular time. The
Mormon
"god" is a SMALL "god". You can have tremendous faith in a
god - BUT, if that
god is not THE GOD, then all that tremendous
faith is meaningless. Elijah once
challenged the priests of
"another god" to start a fire, and the "god" who was
able to do
so would be recognized as THE GOD. The priests for this wooden

idol, with great faith and efforts prayed and prayed to their god
to bring
down fire to prove his godhood. Elijah even became
somewhat sarcastic when he
asked a rhetorical question of "Maybe
your god is asleep? Maybe you should cry
out louder to wake him
up?". After all these efforts, nothing happened! It
didn't matter
if the priest and believers of that "god" had a great faith

because the OBJECT of that faith was incapable of fulfilling the
promise of
that faith. The ONE and TRUE GOD fulfills our prayers.
"If God possesses a
form, that form is of necessity of
definite proportions, and therefore of
limited extension and
space. It is impossible for Him to occupy at one time
more than
one space of such limits." ARTICLES OF FAITH, James E. Talmage,

pages 42 and 43
"I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy
all
description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto
me,
calling me by name and said, pointing to the other -'This is
my Beloved Son.
Hear Him!" PEARL OF GREAT PRICE, Joseph Smith
2:17
"The Father has a body
of flesh and bones as tangible as
man's. DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS, 130, v:22

"God himself is increasing in knowledge, power, and dominion
and will do
so, worlds without end." JOURNAL OF
DISCOURSES,Prophet Wilford Woodruff, Vol
6, Pg 120
"We were begotten by our Father in heaven; the person of our

Father in Heaven was begotten on a previous heavenly world by His
Father; and
again, He was begotten by still a more ancient Father
...." THE SEER, Orson
Pratt, Page 132

The BIBLE states throughout that GOD IS INFINITE! We
ask
that you look up these proofs:
II CHRONICLES 6:18 "Heaven and the
Heaven of Heavens cannot
contain thee."
PSALM
41:13 (90:2) "God is from everlasting to everlasting"
PSALM 102:25-27
"created heavens, always the same
without end"

PSALM 139:4-8 "Omniscient and Omnipresent"
JEREMIAH 23:24
"I fill heaven and earth"
HOSEA 11:9 "I am God, and not
man"
MALACHI 4:39 "I do not change"
NEHEMIAH 9:6 "made
Heaven, Heaven of Heavens and all
their host"

PROVERBS 15:3 "His eyes in every place"
ACTS 17:27 "He
is not far from each of us"
JOHN 4:24 "God is Spirit"
LUKE
24:39 "A Spirit has not flesh and bones"
HEBREWS 4:13 "All
things opened unto His eyes"
I JOHN 4:12 "No man has seen God at
any time"
I TIMOTHY 6:15 "No man has seen, nor can see ..."
JOHN
1:18 "No man has seen God at any time"
EXODUS 33:20
"There shall be no man see me and live"

It is clear that the BIBLE
refutes the Mormon church's
claims and the claims of its prophets and leaders
in a most
specific manner.
Brigham Young, second Prophet and President of
the Mormon
Church taught that ADAM was "our Father and our God...": "When
our
father Adam came into the Garden of Eden, he came into it
with a celestial
body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with
him ... He is our Father and our
God, and the only God with whom
we have to do ... When the Virgin Mary
conceived the child Jesus,
the Father had begotten Him in His own likeness. He
was not
begotten by the Holy Ghost. And who is the Father? He is the
first of
the human family ...." JOURNAL OF DISCOURSES, Vol 1,
page 50, April 9,1852

"I have learned by experience that there is but one God that
pertains to
this people, and He is the God that pertains to this
earth - the first man.
That first man sent His own Son to redeem
the world ..." JOURNAL OF
DISCOURSES, Vol 4, pg 1, June 29, 1856
Prophet & President Heber C. Kimball

"How much unbelief exist in the minds of the Latter-Day
Saints in regard
to a particular doctrine which I revealed to
them, and which God revealed to
me -- namely, that Adam is our
Father and our God ... Our Father, Adam helped
to make this
earth, it was created expressly for him ... He brought one of
his
wives with him, and she was called Eve ... Our Father Adam is the
man who
stands at the gate and holds the keys of everlasting life
and salvation to all
his children.." DESERET NEWS, June 18,1873:
Discourse by Prophet and President
Brigham Young

Today, the Mormon Church adamantly denies the "ADAM-GOD"

doctrine taught, and as seen above, and affirmed by "Prophet"
Brigham Young.
There is overwhelming evidence that he did teach,
believed and strongly
defended this belief. By any, reasonable,
interpretation of the BIBLE, Brigham
Young must be classified as
a FALSE PROPHET (see Deuteronomy 13:1 to 10 and
18:20 to 22 -
also Jeremiah 23:16 to 17) ADAM is not OUR god and NEVER will
be!
The BIBLE states: "... then the Lord God formed man of dust
from the
earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life; and man became a
living being." (Genesis 2:7)
GOD is ONE and ETERNALLY the same. Creator of
the Heavens
and the Earth ... All powerful, all knowing, all present.
Despite
the fact that HE is INFINITE, he knows every hair on our heads
and
has a plan for each of our lives (John 3:16 & 10:10). It is
far better to have
a small faith in THE TRUE GOD of the universe
than to have a great faith in a
small, counterfeit god.
One should keep in mind that faith in a
"counterfeit" god is
really no more than a misplaced faith in the false
prophet and
the teaching of a false Prophet. Remember - a counterfeit - to
be
called a counterfeit - must "resemble" the GENUINE item. If there
are many
"counterfeit" gods, then there must be a REAL GOD, and
HE is found in the
scriptures and in everything that surrounds
us.

Computers for Christ





THE REAL HOLY SPIRIT

In Mormonism the "Holy Ghost"
is a personage, or a god, but
the "Holy Spirit" is an impersonal force. The
Mormons refer to
verses that the Holy Spirit is symbolized by oil, fire and
water
and show that these are "impersonal". The Bible refers to the
Father
and the Son as "bread of life", "living water" and other
"impersonal" terms.
Again, we must look at the context.
In John 16:7, our Lord is placing His
emphasis on His going
away and the Holy Spirit's being sent by the Father to
replace
our Lord himself. This change (or replacement), Jesus says, would
be
beneficial for His disciples. AN IMPERSONAL FORCE COULD HARDLY
IMPROVE ON THE
PERSONAL PRESENCE OF OUR LORD, JESUS CHRIST!
The word in Hebrew and the
word in Greek for SPIRIT and
GHOST both mean the same, "breath or wind" and
the "translators"
of the King James Bible noted that the Greek word denoted
a
neuter gender and mistranslated to be an "IT", but they did
utilize the
word Ghost and Spirit and interchanged them on many
occassions.
The
words as translated are from only ONE word in Hebrew and
ONE word in Greek -
therefore there are NOT two words for SPIRIT
and GHOST - only ONE. Now, let's
look at this ONE entity called
the HOLY SPIRIT. In John 16:13 and 14 we see
our Lord, Jesus
telling us this about the Holy Spirit, "HE shall not speak
of
HIMSELF ... HE shall glorify me ... HE shall receive of mine
....". NOTE
that our LORD gives PERSONALITY to the Spirit.
Otherwise our Lord would have
used the term that Mormons use
"IT".
Jesus repeatedly (John 16:7-15)
uses the MASCULINE PERSONAL
pronoun "He" when referring to the Spirit. Jesus
used the term
clearly to tell us that the Spirit had personality and
intimacy.
Ananias was struck dead for lying to the HOLY SPIRIT (Acts

5:3). You cannot lie to an impersonal force! It would be like
walking up to a
window box fan, turning it on and facing its
"force" and then telling lie
after lie to it - IT WOULD NOT CARE
THE SLIGHTEST, WOULD IT? Now, you look at
Ananias and, if you are
not a complete idiot, you would not repeat his
behavior, now
would you? The Holy Spirit and the Holy Ghost are not two

different items mentioned in the Bible. There is only one entity
referred to
as both HOLY GHOST and HOLY SPIRIT.
The Holy Spirit is a person. The
Spirit may be "grieved"
(Ephesians 4:30) and "sinned against" by UNFORGIVABLE
blasphemy
(Mark 3:29). None of these things are possible for an "impersonal

force".

The Holy Ghost does things which only a person COULD do.

He
SPEAKS:

"The Spirit said unto Philip, 'Go near'" (Acts 8:29)

He
STRIVES:

"My Spirit shall not strive with man forever" (Genesis 6:3)
-
"The Spirit also helpeth our infirmity ... [and] MAKETH
INTERCESSION for us."
(Romans 8:26)

He REVEALS, SEARCHES, and KNOWS:

"But God hath revealed
them unto us by His Spirit; for the
Spirit searcheth all things ... the things
of God knoweth no man
but the Spirit of God" (I Corinthians 2:10,11).


Other verses can be shown in which the Spirit IDENTIFIES
with believers
(Acts 15:28), The Spirit is ETERNAL (Hebrews
9:14), OMNIPRESENT (Psalm
139:7-10), DOES GOD'S WORK (Genesis
1:2), INVOLVED IN REGENERATION (John 3:8),
participates in the
RESURRECTION (Romans 8:11).
Paul identifies the
Spirit as the speaker to Isaiah. Acts
28:25-26 and Isaiah 6:8,9. An impersonal
force does not counsel,
speak, feel, or anything resembling personality. The
HOLY SPIRIT
is a person - one of the THREE ENTITIES of the ONE TRUE GOD.


Computers For Christ



MORMONISM'S "SALVATION BY WORKS"

vs.
SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH
CHRIST

The entire BIBLE points in all directions to the cross. Upon
it
God's only begotten Son died that we might have eternal life
from God. Only
through Christ can this separation be bridged.
On the other hand,
MORMONISM points in all directions to the
"Law of Eternal Progression". We
have seen that Mormon doctrine
states that God was once a man. He progressed
to become God. The
same law states that man may become God!
Let's go to
the authorities of the church and hear what they
have said, first on the
subject of man's pre-existence as a
spirit in a "spirit world" prior to
taking a body here on earth:

DID WE PRE-EXIST?

BRUCE R.
McCONKIE (Apostle); MORMON DOCTRINE, page 589

"Pre-existence is the term
commonly used to describe the
pre-mortal existence of the spirit children of
God the Father ...
All men and women are in the similitude of the universal
Father
and Mother, and we are literally the sons and daughters of Deity;
as
spirits they were the offspring of celestial parentage ...
Unless God the
father was a personal Being, He could not have
begotten spirits in His image,
and if there had been no self-
existent spirit element, there would have been
no substance from
which those spirit bodies could have been organized."


The basis of the Mormon law of progression in Mormonism is
that
"intelligences" are eternal. On the other hand, God is not!
He started as a
spirit child in another 'spirit world' long ago;
entered a body on another
earth as a man; apparently was able to
follow the law of progression
perfectly; after death He became
God in the 'celestial kingdom' of that other
earth; brought (or
was given) many wives; through sexual union in our spirit
world
had billions of spirit children : The first was Jesus, the second

Lucifer, the third and on and on were to enter the earth as you
and me.

No organic difference in the parentage between us and Jesus
and Lucifer!
We all have the same literal "Heavenly Father". Note
how those in Mormonism
generally refer to Him as "Heavenly
Father" -- they mean just that -
LITERALLY!! Just remember that
they could say also; "Heavenly GRANDFATHER",
"Heavenly Great-
Grandfather", and so on ...!

MILTON R. HUNTER (1st Council of
70); GOSPEL THROUGH THE AGES;
pages 127-129 (1958)

"In the first stage,
man was an eternally existent being
termed an intelligence ... The next realm
where man dwelt was the
spirit world."

According to Mormon concept
eternally existing intelligences
were clothed with spirit bodies in the
mansion of their eternal
Father... "numerous sons and daughters were begotten
and born of
heavenly parents into that eternal family in the spirit
world ...
There ... they were reared to maturity, becoming grown spirit men

and women prior to coming upon this earth ... Following his stay
in the spirit
world, man comes to earth in a probationary state
... receives a physical body
and undergoes the experiences of
mortality .. Eventually; however, mortal
death comes upon all.
The eternal spirit goes to the spirit world to wait
resurrection
and judgement ... there they shall be assigned to the glory
that
they have merited ... Some will receive celestial glory; others

terrestrial, while those who are recorded in the 'Lamb's Book of
Life' will
enter celestial glory. There some of them will become
angels and others
priests and kings, or, in other words, Gods."
On page 12, Hunter states a
basic "truth" of Mormonism, that
God is subordinate to the law of eternal
progression.: "Our
Eternal Father has attained His position of exaltation
and
Godhood by obedience to the great law of progression."

JOSEPH FIELDING
SMITH; DOCTRINES OF SALVATION; Vol 1, pg 12

"The intelligent part of man
was never created but always
existed. That is true of each of us as well as it
is of God, yet
we are born sons and daughters of God in the spirit and are

destined to exist forever. Those who become like God will also be
from
eternity to eternity."
The BIBLE states explicitly that there are no
intelligences
co-eternal or co-existent with God. Anything that exists,
other
than God, is a "thing". COLOSSIANS 1:16-17 and JOHN 1:1-3 state
that
ONLY Jesus is co-eternal with God as the "WORD WAS GOD"
(John 1:1). He is
before all "things" and created all "things".
His creation did not pre-exist
Him! God knows the beginning and
end of all things before they exist. There
are several scriptures
stating HE "knew" us before we were born. They do not
imply we
existed before we were born.
"The burden of the word of the Lord
of Israel, saith the
Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth
the
foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within
him."
(ZECHARIAH 12:1)

SALVATION BY GRACE VERSUS WORKS

The
BIBLE states over and over that we do not merit
salvation (eternal life in
God's presence) by our own goodness
and system of good works from or for any
organization. You need
only to study the Old Testament and see the
hopelessness of a
system whereby man was to live within God's laws with the
system
of prophets - temples - priests and ordinances. The purpose of
Jesus
coming to earth to die for us was to make provision for our
own inability to
bridge this separation of man from God and
brought a new covenant. If you
choose Mormonism as your plan of
salvation, you have regressed to the old
covenant of the prophet,
temple and ordinance which produce only "dead works"
in an
attempt to obtain righteousness on your own. If you trust the LDS

church and its prophets; here is what is said:

MILTON R. HUNTER; THE GOSPEL
THROUGH THE AGES; pg 115 JOSEPH F.
SMITH; TEACHINGS OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH
SMITH; pg 348

"Thus all men who ascend to the glorious status of
Godhood
can do so only by one method - by obedience to all the principals
and
ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (another way of
saying
"Mormonism")... Men are saved no faster than they gain
knowledge. The Prophet
Joseph described the process of going
toward Godhood as follows: When you
climb a ladder, you must
begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until
you arrive at
the top; and so it is with the principles of the Gospel - you

must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all of the
principles of
exaltation. But it will be a great while after you
have passed through the
veil before you will have learned them."

JAMES E. TALMAGE; ARTICLES OF FAITH;
pg 480

"The sectarian dogma of justification by faith alone has

exercised an influence for evil."

II NEPHI 25:23 (BOOK OF MORMON)

"For
we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after
all we can do."


WHAT THE MORMONS THINK OF CHRIST

LDS CHURCH TRACT; pg 32,46,47

"Christians speak often of the blood of Christ and its
cleansing power.
Much that is believed and taught on this
subject, however, is utter nonsense
and so palpably false that to
believe it is to lose one's salvation. Many go
so far, for
instance, as to pretend, at least, to believe that if we confess

Christ with our lips and avow that we accept Him as our personal
Savior, we
are thereby saved ... And no man can pick the fruit of
eternal life off the
branches, as these are tied to the vine,
without accepting both Christ and His
prophets ... If it had not
been for Joseph Smith, the Prophet, the perfect
knowledge of
Christ would not be had in the world in this day. If it had not

been for him and his mission there would be no legal
administrators now on
earth to administer in the ordinances of
salvation."

BRUCE R. McCONKIE;
MORMON DOCTRINE; pgs 84 & 745

"The second birth begins when men are
legally baptized in
water by a legal administrator ... Those who receive the
Gospel
(Mormon Doctrine) and join the church of Jesus Christ of Latter
day
Saints have power given them to become sons of God."
(Compare to John 1:12
-- "But as many as received Him, to
them gave He power to become sons of
God..")

BRUCE R. McCONKIE; MORMON DOCTRINE; pg 149

"Those things which
men are directed to do to attain peace
in this life and gain eternal life in
the world to come are
collectively called the commandments."

BRUCE R.
McCONKIE; MORMON DOCTRINE; preface to 1966 Edition; pg
118

"Man is saved
no faster than he gains knowledge -- (See I
Corinthians 1:17,20-23,2:1-5) --
To gain salvation after baptism
it is necessary to keep the commandments of
God and endure to the
end ... The most important things that any member of the
church
of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints ever does in this world are:
1.
To marry the right person, in the right place, by the right
authority (Mormon
Temple marriage); and 2. to keep the covenant
made in connection with this
holy and perfect order of matrimony
- thus assuring the obedient persons of an
inheritance of
exaltation in the celestial kingdom."

CHURCH NEWS-EDITORIAL;
November 8,1975; page 16

"There is only one way to become sanctified and
perfected,
and thus prepared to live with God. That is by obedience to His

laws. There is no other way ... When will we learn to obey him
with all our
heart, mind and strength?
(Compare with Luke 10:27 - "Thou shalt love the
Love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all
thy strength, and with all thy mind....")

MILTON R. HUNTER, GOSPEL THROUGH THE
AGES; pgs 118-120

"If men and women obey all the other laws of the
gospel
except that of celestial marriage (Mormon Temple Marriage), they
are
appointed angels ...."

BENNET; WHY I AM A MORMON; pg 170

"Once we have
been resurrected, it will be our own efforts,
and not Christ's sacrifice, that
will be the deciding factor ...
A man can be saved only so fast as he gains
knowledge of the laws
of God." Prophets ... temples ... Obedience to the
Law ...
Aaronic Priest .. Legalisms ... Dependent on our own efforts and
good
works ...

Sound familiar? Old Testament in a new wrapping? Wrapped in

Christian terminology? Mormonism calls the unsuspecting back
under what
amounts to the old covenant. If righteousness could be
obtained, earned or
gained by our own efforts to be perfect under
the law, there would have been
no need for a "NEW" covenant. If
all Christ's death meant was to conquer death
- to pay for Adam's
sin as Mormonism teaches - why are the following among the
great
number of God's words declaring the TRUTH of the NEW COVENANT of

salvation through Christ, by faith, not works of the law. Look up
these
scriptures and review their full context:

THE LAW AND WORKS DO
NOT SAVE

JOHN 6:28,29,39,40 ... What must we do to be doing the works of
God?
This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He
sent.

ROMANS
3:21,22 ... No one is justified by the works of the law.
Now righteousness of
God is manifested apart from the Law.

ROMANS 4:13-16 ... If it is adherents of
the Law that are to be
heirs, then faith is NULL and the promise void.

ROMANS
7:4-6 ... Died to the Law through the body of Christ.
Discharged from the law,
dead to that which held us captive, so
that we serve not under the old written
code but in new life of
the Spirit.

ROMANS 8:1-4 ... God has done what the
law could not do!

ROMANS 9:30-32 ... Israel who pursued righteousness based on
the
law did not succeed. WHY? They did not pursue it through faith,
but as if
it were based on works.

ROMANS 10:1-4 ... A zeal for God - but not
enlightened. Seeking
to establish their own righteousness. Christ is the end
of the
law. Romans 14:1-23 and Colossians 3:8-23 are clear refutations
of the
point made by Joseph Smith in "Words of Wisdom" to not
drink and eat certain
things is nothing more than MAN'S
regulation and NOT from God. Read and see
what God said through
the Apostle Paul!

GALATIANS 2:16 ... Man is not
justified by works of the law but
is through faith!

GALATIANS 2:19-21 ...
Died to the law, that I might live to God.
I do not nullify the Grace of God;
for if righteousness were
through the law, then Christ is dead in vain.


GALATIANS 3:10 ... As many as are under the works of the law are
under the
curse!

GALATIANS 3:23-28 ... Before faith came, we were under the law -
our
schoolmaster (Custodian) until Christ came. Now that faith is
come, we are no
longer under a schoolmaster.

GALATIANS 5:18 ... If led by the Spirit, you are
not under the
law.

II TIMOTHY 1:8-10 ... Who saved us, not according to our
works,
but according to His own purpose and grace.

TITUS 3:3-9 ... He saved
us, not by works of righteousness which
we have done, but according to His
mercy. Being justified by
grace.

HOW IS MAN (or WE )
SAVED ?

If salvation is not by works of our own under the law and

ordinances, HOW IS MAN SAVED? Just a few of the scriptures God
has given us
are:

JOHN 3:1-18 ... YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN! In context Jesus,
Himself,
explains that, not only do we have a natural birth
(Flesh) but a spiritual
birth! "Whosoever believeth in Him shall
not perish but have everlasting life
(ETERNAL)!

ROMANS 5:1-11 ... Christ died for us, sinners, who are now

justified by His blood. We are reconciled through Him.

ROMANS 5:15-17 ... The
free gift of righteousness by the grace of
God.

ROMANS 10:9-17 ... Confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and
believe in your heart God raised Him from
the dead, you will be
saved.

GALATIANS 2:16-21 ... We are justified by faith.
Our old nature
is crucified with Christ; Christ now lives in us; we live by

faith --- not the law!

EPHESIANS 2:8-10 ... "For by grace are ye saved through
faith;
and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: Not of works,
lest
any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God hath before ordained that
we should walk in them."


Works have nothing to do with our justifying eternal life.
The Mormon will
be quick to point out James 2:17 - "Even so
faith, if it hath not works, is
dead, being alone." AMEN! That is
not denying salvation by faith. What it is
saying is this: "You
say you are saved? Saving faith will naturally flow into
a life
that will show evidence of it. Your 'works' will testify of your

faith. If none, there is reason to question whether there really
was a saving
faith to start with." To quote Ed Decker in his
tract "To Moroni with Love";
You do not bark to become a dog nor
"baa" to become a sheep. You bark because
you are a dog or "baa"
because you are a sheep! Christians, when born-again
and indwelt
by the Holy Spirit, have a never ending desire to follow the
Lord
Jesus in their daily life behavior. "Works" is not an appropriate
name
as it suggests payment after the work has been done. Christ
made the payment
IN FULL for our sins by His blood for us; if
only we REPENT of our sins and
ACCEPT Him by faith. It is
available only through God's grace for an eternal
life.

I JOHN 1:7 ... Blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all sin.

HEBREW
9:23-28,10:10-18 ... Jesus was the sacrifice, once, to
perfect forever those
who are sanctified.

ROMANS 5:6-11 ... We are reconciled by His blood.

ISAIAH
53:6-11 & I CORINTHIANS 5:17-21 ... Our iniquity was laid
on Jesus; to die for
us; that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him.

I PETER 2:24 ...
"Who his own self bare our sins in His own body
on the tree, that we, being
dead to sins should live unto
righteousness: By whose stripes ye are healed."

You will never (Well, We won't say never because God may
have His plan
for their salvation that We are not aware of at
this moment) see a cross on a
Mormon structure. They will say
call it a "graven image"; yet "Moroni" stands
on top of their
temples. Moroni didn't die for them. Joseph Smith, Jr. didn't
die
for them. The church didn't die for them. JESUS DIED FOR THEM, if
they
would only cling to His cross and reach out to claim His
blood for their sins.
They're told they can earn their own
righteousness based on the law of the
church which is based on
"prophets, seers and revelators" proven -TIME AND
AGAIN- to be
false. Wouldn't you rather lay your eternal life in the hands
of
the ETERNAL GOD; the SON who, personally, died for you - than,
say, a
"prophet" in Salt Lake City?
Our prayer is that this comparison of the
Bible vs: the LDS
Mormon church will show you the LIGHT of CHRIST.

Computers
For Christ

DO THE NAG HAMMADI WRITING AND DEAD SEA SCROLLS

CONFIRM MORMONISM
or

IS EINAR ERICKSON CONFUSED ?

In recent years, Mormon
lecturer, Einar C. Erickson, has
given numerous talks to Mormon church groups
concerning the Dead
Sea Scrolls, Nag Hammadi writings, Mandean Ginza and
related
Middle East finds. These lectures have been taped and widely

distributed for use in converting the uninformed to Mormonism. Mr
Erickson
states that the writings discovered in the vicinity of
Nag Hammadi, Egypt, are
one of the greatest confirmations of the
"truthfulness" of the Mormon church
that anyone would find
anywhere.
On one of his tapes, Mr. Erickson
boldly declares that:
"These documents and others leave without doubt evidence
positive
even on the best rules of evidence that an attorney might be able
to
assemble, that this gospel [i.e. the Mormon gospel] is true.
You get no credit
for faith anymore." Mr. Erickson attempts to
convince his listeners that the
writers of the Nag Hammadi were
the true Christians, (based upon his
allegation of their
similarity to Mormonism) and that all others had slipped
off into
apostasy.
However; the Nag Hammadi writings are of "Gnostic"
origin
which were written during the first to fourth century A.D. The
Gnostic
heretics did cherish both the Old and New testament
Scripture, but re-
interpreted them in terms of a mythological
Gnostic Redeemer. Gnosticism gave
rise to the writings of a
number of totally spurious apocalyptic books, false
gospels and
epistles that incorporated their own mysticism.
Gnosticism
was a movement that vigorously contended with
Orthodox Christianity for
supremacy. Writings by the early Church
Fathers show how widespread and
influential Gnosticism was; and
it was combatted as a lethal threat to the
proclamation of the
Gospel. The bishops pointed out the great gulf between
Biblical
Christianity and Gnosticism, even though the Gnostics made use of

Biblical text. It is obvious that Paul, the Apostle, knew of the
false ideas
of Gnosticism, and spoke out against such doctrines
several times in the
Scriptures.
The Gnostics believed in the supreme being as an

undescribable God. He is invisible, incomprehensible, and dwells
unbegotten in
eternal peace. Some names used to describe God and
to stress His transcendence
were "Father of All", "The
Unapproachable God", "The Unknowable". Such a God
could not
possibly have direct contact with the material world; therefore,
He
does so through intermediates, each one answerable to the
other. Each
intermediate in descending order is less divine and
more earthy as the chain
nears the material world.
Mr. Erickson spellbinds his listeners when he
tells them
that the Nag Hammadi writings confirm the Mormon doctrine of the

Heavenly Mother! What he fails to tell them is that this Mother
God of the Nag
Hammadi is the "Holy Spirit." Certainly this is in
direct conflict with the
Mormon concept of a Mother God, because
in Mormon doctrine, the Holy Spirit is
a male. The supreme being
has a female counterpart which emanates from Him.
She is known as
"Mother of All" or "The Holy Spirit."
Other emanations
that come forth from the Supreme Being in
pairs are called AEONS; the lowest
Aeon being "Sophia Akhamoth",
she was so full of passion to understand or know
God that she
fell and was placed outside the Pleroma, God's heavenly
dwelling.
Because of her desire, she becomes fertile with a formless
monster.
This monster (Yaldabaoth, Samael or SATAN) is the
Demiurge or inferior god who
created this material world and
brought forth man upon it.
According to
the Gnostic, all matter is evil; therefore,
only an inferior being could have
created it. Satan is the
creator-god of this earth and of man, and is an evil
god. To the
Gnostics, Satan is Jehovah of the Old Testament! After Jehovah

(Satan) creates man and breathes life into him, he creates Eve.
The demonic
forces see the beauty of Eve, and proceed to rape
her. Through this act, she
conceives Cain and Abel.
Mr. Erickson often refers to the Hypostasis of
the Archons
of the Nag Hammadi and being direct parallel to the Garden of

Eden scene of the Mormon Temple Ceremony. However, he fails to
inform his
listeners that the Hypostasis of the Archeons tells of
the demons raping Eve!
Nor does he point out that the serpent in
the garden is really the Holy Spirit
coming to give Adam and Eve
the "true knowledge." He neglects to mention to
his listeners
that the "god" who comes into the garden to ask Adam and Eve
what
they have done is not the "Heavenly Father" but is Satan the
arrogant
Archon, the evil god. In this instance, Mr. Erickson is,
at best, mistaken
about the facts -- a fault which reappears
throughout his lectures and tapes.

The authors of the Nag Hammadi writings taught a form of re-
incarnation,
and that marriage was evil, because it is of the
earth. They believed the
begetting of children was from Satan,
since it merely increases the number
subjected to the evil
angels. Resurrection of the flesh is denied by these
Gnostics,
since earthly flesh is in itself evil, and can have no part in
the
spiritual scheme of God. All of these concepts are not
confirmations of Mormon
doctrine, but are direct contradictions
of it!
Mr. Erickson, looking
elsewhere in the Middle East for
"proof," tells his audiences that the
writings of the Mandaeans
of Iraq and Iran are (also) a confirmation of
Mormonism. His
"evidence" for this is that they speak of baptism for the
dead,
baptism by immersion, priesthood and baptize in the name of the
Father,
the Son and the Holy Ghost. What he fails to mention to
them is: according to
the Mandaeans, Jesus was a rebel and a
heretic who led men astray by betraying
secret doctrine and
making religion easier. The Mandaean sacred book tells of
how
Jesus perverted the Scriptures, and that Jesus told the Jews that
He was
the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Furthermore, the
Mandaean book accuses
Jesus perverting baptism by baptizing in
the name of the Father, the Son and
the Holy Ghost.
The Mandaeans were baptized many times throughout their

lives. They baptized infants; and if an infant died before or
during this
baptism, a clay or dough image was made which they
then baptized in proxy for
that infant. Proxy baptism was also
done for an adult who died before getting
his last minute
washings before death. In this case, an individual that
looked
like the deceased was baptized in proxy for the dead person.
The
Mandaeans also had a ceremony of "eating for the dead"
to give the deceased
nourishment for his travels to the heavenly
spheres. The Mormon people do not
baptize infants, do not eat for
the dead, nor do they have last minute washing
rituals before
death as the Mandaeans did. The Mormon proxy baptisms have
less
in common with the Mandaean baptisms than they do with Catholic
infant
baptisms, last rites ritual, and prayers for the dead.
Clearly, the Mandaean
concepts of Jesus and baptism are in no way
similar to Mormon doctrine.

Those holding the Mandaean priesthood had to have a clean
family history
for a number of generations, and meet strict
physical and mental
qualifications. They had to be without the
slightest physical blemish, and be
of pure Mandaean blood. A man
who was circumcised, impotent, or a eunuch could
not be a priest
for the body must be sound, pure, and perfect. If a man was

already a priest and he received an injury which destroyed his
manhood or
robbed him of a limb, he could no longer officiate as
a priest. There are no
such restrictions within the Mormon
priesthoods. The only things in common
with the Mormon
priesthoods and baptism and that of the Mandaean are the
very
words themselves!
Mr. Erickson makes false claims about the Dead Sea
Scrolls
community, as well. He states that those at Qumran baptized at
the
age of eight, just as the Mormons do. This is just simply NOT
the case. They
trained young men for their celibate monastic
order for about ten years before
they were baptized into their
ranks. This baptism never took place before the
age of twenty.
Mr. Erickson states that the people of Qumran were
essentially
the first "Mormons." However, the people at Qumran didn't even

believe in marriage! Rather they adopted in young men from other
Essene groups
who married only to beget children. By contrast, in
Mormonism, marriage is
absolutely essential to each member's
salvation in the Celestial Kingdom of
God.
Mr. Erickson claims that the Apocryphal books should be used
as
scripture. However, even the Mormon's own "latter day"
revelation disagrees
with him. In the introductory heading of
Section 91 of the Doctrine and
Covenants, it declares
specifically that the apocryphal books are NOT to be
accepted as
scripture. Beyond that built-in contradiction, lies the fact
that
one need only to read some of these apocrypha for himself to
quickly
discover their singular lack of inspiration.
For example, two "Gospels"
portray the life of the young
Jesus, allegedly covering the "silent" years
skipped over in the
Bible. The book, "The First Gospel of the Infancy of
Jesus"
portrays Jesus as a spoiled despot who curses another child for

bumping into him, and a schoolmaster who was going to discipline
Him for
refusing to answer a question. After these two people are
killed at Jesus'
command, Joseph tells Mary, "we will not allow
him to go out of the house; for
every one who displeases him is
killed." In Thomas' "Gospel of the Infancy of
Jesus Christ", we
see Jesus causing the withering of hands, blindness, and
again,
death. This is clearly not the Jesus Christ of the Bible!
The
conclusion is inescapable -- the claims by Mr. Erickson
(and consequently
other Mormons) that the Mormon doctrine is
"exonerated" by the findings in the
Middle East is totally
without foundation. Mormon doctrine is not confirmed by
these
different religious sects, it is contradicted by them! It is
apparent
that these claims are just another chapter in the long
history of false
archeological boasts made by Mormons in the
past.

NOTE: A full and completely
documented study of Mr. Erickson's
scholarship regarding the above topics has
been written by Mrs.
Melaine Layton entitled: The Truth About the Dead Sea
Scrolls and
the Nag Hammadi Writings in Reference to Mormonism. For further

information, please write to the office of Computers For Christ -
San Jose.

Do Mormons "Really" Believe in the Bible?

Isaiah
41:21 - Set Forth your case
I Peter 3:15 - Be prepared, always


The credibility of a religious claim rests upon its ability
to verify its
terms. In the year of 1800, the French Institute in
Paris issued a list of 82
"errors' that it had found in the Bible
and felt would destroy Christianity in
short order. In 1804, not
one of the alleged errors remained!
In the year
1901, the American Society of Archeology claimed
that the Biblical account of
a peoples called the Hittites was
false. In 1933, archeologists found
conclusive proof of the
existence of the Hittites and other peoples that the
Bible had
claimed existed!
The primary question for this text is: "Why
are we
discussing the matter of the Bible and its completeness? Doesn't
the
Mormon church accept the Bible as the Word of God?" To
respond, let me quote
from the sources of the Mormon church:

8th Article of Faith - "We believe
the Bible to be the word
of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also
believe the
Book of Mormon to be the Word of God."
Joseph Smith, in
Teaching of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page
327, stated "Ignorant translators,
careless transcribers, or
designing and corrupt priests committed many
errors.' and the
mormon apostle Mark E. Peterson states in his book, As
Translated
Correctly - page 4, "Many insertions were made, some of them

"slanted' for selfish purposes, while at times deliberate
falsifications and
fabrications were perpetrated.'
Orson Pratt further made a comment in his
book, Divine
Authenticity of the Book of Mormon - pages 45 & 47, thus: "If
it
be admitted that the apostles and evangelists did write the books
of the
New Testament, that does not prove of itself that they
were divinely inspired
at the time they wrote ... Add all this
imperfection to the uncertainty of the
translation, and who, IN
HIS RIGHT MIND could for one moment suppose the Bible
in its
present form to be a perfect guide? Who knows that even one verse
of
the Bible has escaped pollution, so as to convey the same
sense now that it
did in the original?"
The Book of Mormon, II Nephi 29:6 states "Thou fool,
that
shall say a Bible, we have got a Bible and we need no more Bible.
Have
ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews?" Can you note
the FOOLS are the
only ones who trust in the Bible? Read verse
10. Here, the Book of Mormon
declares the need for more
revelation and makes way for its own existence!

A point of interest - turn to I Nephi 13:26: "a great and
abominable
church - has taken away from the gospel of the Lamb
many parts which are plain
and precious; and also many covenants
of the Lord have they taken away." The
Book of Mormon tells us
that this is 600 B.C.! Do you know what B.C. means -
BEFORE
CHRIST! So we are told that the gospel of the Lamb has been
polluted
six hundred years before the Lamb or His Gospel was
recorded in the New
Testament and given at the Passover!

IS THE BIBLE
INFALLIBLE?

The Bible was composed over a period of 1,500 years by more

than 40 different authors from the full range of humanity: from
military
generals (Joshua) to prime ministers (Daniel) to
cupbearers (Nehemiah) to
fishermen (Peter) to tax collectors
(Matthew) to kings (David). The books were
written in many
different places: the wilderness (Moses), prison (Paul), and

exile (John on the Island Patmos). On three different continents
(Africa, Asia
and Europe) and in three different languages
(Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek).

The content, yet, remains constant in its unfolding of the
plan of
salvation through Christ Jesus. The Old Testament reveals
itself to be the
story of the preparation for the arrival of the
Messiah or Christ. The Gospels
of the New Testament are the
manifestation of the Christ in the person of
Jesus of Nazareth.
Acts is the propagation of the message. The Epistles give
the
explanation and the Revelation of John provides the consummation
of the
Kingdom of God in Christ Jesus or Lord! The entire Bible
is about Jesus (Luke
24:27 - 44 and John 5:39,46,47). I challenge
any Mormon to take any ten
people, and you can even get them from
the same heritage - education -
language and culture and ask them
separately to give you their opinion of the
meaning of life - you
will get opinions of such variety, yet the Bible
consists of over
40 authors of more than one generation with very little

similarity and is in total unity! Complete harmony!

In discussion of the
matter of infallibility of the Bible we
need, first to look at the process
that we use to arrive at this
conclusion:
PREMISE # 1 - The Bible is
basically a reliable and trustworthy
document.

PREMISE # 2 - On the basis of
this reliable document, we have
sufficient evidence to believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of
God.

PREMISE # 3 - Jesus Christ, being the Son of God,
is an
infallible authority. (Luke 24:27,44; John 5:39; Hebrews 10:7)

PREMISE
# 4 - Jesus Christ teaches that the Bible is MORE than
generally trustworthy.
He teaches that it is the very Word of
God.

PREMISE # 5 - The WORD, in that
it comes from God, is utterly
trustworthy because GOD is utterly trustworthy!

PREMISE # 6 - On the basis of the infallible authority of Jesus
Christ, the
Bible is infallible.

II Timothy 2:13 declares that God "cannot deny
Himself" and
Galatians 1:8,9 tells us that we should be wary of any teaching

of any other Gospel than that which Paul preached, which by the
declaration of
Paul in Romans 15:19 states that "I have fully
preached the Gospel of Jesus
Christ."
The Mormon church is unable to provide any proof that Paul

taught such doctrines as celestial marriage, no hell, wearing of
sacred
underwear, or godhood to be obtained. It is proper to
state that if Paul never
taught such doctrines, then Galatians
1:8-9 CONDEMNS them! The claim of the
LDS that more scripture is
necessary is groundless.
In II Peter 1:3, we
are told that "His divine power hath
given unto us ALL things that pertain to
life and godliness."
Paul further explained in Colossians 2:10 that "Ye are
COMPLETE
in Him." If just these two statements are true, what possible use

could additional scripture be? Granted that nowhere in the Bible
does it state
that "This is the end of Scripture"; However, with
the above statements,
anything else could ONLY be redundant. It
is obvious from the text of the New
Testament that the writers
were "eyewitnesses" of the ministry and presence of
Jesus Christ.
(II Peter 1:15-18 and I John 1:1-5)
Acts 22:14-15 and I
Corinthians 11:23 show that the Apostle
Paul was specially chosen by the Lord
as a witness while the
other Apostles were alive. Paul's testimony was
identical to that
of the other Apostles - what He had seen, heard and taught
of the
Lord Jesus was identical to all previous teachings and in accord
with
the Old Testament teachings. Much more could have been
written (John 20:30 and
21:25); However, there was no need as
there already existed "all things that
pertain to life and
godliness." (II Peter 1:3 and John 20:31)
How many of
us, Mormon or Christian have read and digested
all of the meat of the Holy
Bible - completely? Can there really
be a need for something more when the
original item is still
unplumbed for the depths it contains?
We have the
following possibilities: the Bible was written
by either (1) Good Men or
Angels, (2) Evil Men or Demons, (3)
God.
Good Men or Angels could not
have written it as they could
not write "Thus saith the Lord" when it was a
lie or an invention
of their own minds.
Evil men or demons could not have
written the Bible as they
would not have written a book that commands all
duty, forbids all
sin, and condemns all evil to Hell!
We thus have GOD as
the only source of the BIble.

In the ancient Israel, a class of servants
in the Temple
were called Scribes. This was a lifelong calling and one of
great
importance to the continuance of the Law and Prophets of Israel.
I will
demonstrate the LEGAL method of making a copy of a
document according to the
laws of Israel at this time and
according to the great traditions of the
Talmud. The possibility
for incorrect copy is almost non-existent. Combine
this with the
facts as proven by archeology. Prior to the Dead Sea Scroll
copy
of the Book of Isaiah, the best copy of that Book was over 1000
years
newer! In comparing the two copies that covered this gap of
a thousand years,
there was found only ONE CHARACTER changed, and
that was an article that
"possibly" could have lost the accent
mark of the character to make it 100%
identical to the dead sea
scroll version! Imagine - 1000 years of copies and
NO CHANGE in
the versions! Now the basis to make copies of the New Testament

were as strict. We find many incidences of the same phenomena of
clarity and
correctness. Out of all the many thousands of pieces
and text, not ONE
DOCTRINE has been added to or changed or
modified in ANY MANNER!


JOSEPH SMITH'S FIRST VISION
Fact or
Fable ?
By W. P. Walters

"Sometime in the second
year after our removal to
Manchester, there was in the place where we lived an
unusual
excitement on the subject of religion. It commenced with the

Methodists, but soon became general among all the sects in the
region of
country ... my mind became somewhat partial to the
Methodists ... but so great
was the confusion and strife among
the different denominations, that it was
impossible ... to come
to any certain conclusion who was right, and who was
wrong ... in
accordance with this, by determination, to ask God, I retired
to
the woods to make an attempt. It was on the morning of a
beautiful, clear
day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and
twenty ... I kneeled down and
began to offer up the desires of my
heart to God. ... I saw a pillar of light
exactly over my head
... When the light rested upon me I saw two personages,
(whose
brightness and glory defy all description) standing above me in
the
air ... I asked the personages who stood above me in the
light, which of all
the sects was right, (for at this time it had
never entered into my heart that
all were wrong) and which I
should join. I was answered that I must join none
of them, for
they were all wrong ..." Joseph Smith, Jr.

The well
publicized story above, of Joseph Smith's First
Vision is not a true account
of the origin of the Latter Day
Saint movement. The facts are decidedly
against it!
First, the historical evidence shows that Joseph Smith, Jr.

could not have been stirred by an 1820 revival, to ask which
church was true.

Second, early Mormon statements do not support his claim
that in 1820 he
learned through a visitation of the Father and
the Son that all existing
churches were wrong.
Third, the details known about Joseph's early life

contradict his assertion that in 1820 he had such a divine
visitation and was
persecuted by the community for telling such a
story.

NO 1820 REVIVAL .....


First his neighborhood in 1820 experienced no revival such
as he
described, in which "great multitudes" joined the
Methodist, Baptist, and
Presbyterian churches. The Presbyterian
records for the Palmyra Presbyterian
Church show that it
experienced no revival in 1820. The local Baptist Church
gained
only six on profession of faith the entire year, while the
Methodists
actually lost members that year as well as the
preceeding and following years.
(Minutes of the Annual
Conference)
Joseph Smith claimed that his mother,
sister and two
brothers were led to join the local Presbyterian Church as a

result of that 1820 revival. However, four years before he made
this claim,
his own church paper had stated that the revival in
which his family had been
led to join the Presbyterian Church
took place in 1823. (Messenger & Advocate
I, pp. 42, 78) In fact,
that account says it was the same 1823 revival that
led him to go
to his bedroom (not to a sacred grove) and pray "if a Supreme

being did exist" and to know that "he was accepted of him." An
angel (not a
deity) is then reported to have appeared and told
him of his forgiveness and
of the gold plates.
Joseph's mother, likewise, knew nothing of an 1820
vision.
In her unpublished account she traces the origin of Mormonism to
a
BEDROOM VISIT by an angel. Joseph at the time had been
"pondering which of the
churches were the true one." The angel
told him "there is not a true church on
Earth, No not one."
(First draft of "Lucy Smith's History," LDS Church
Archives)
Furthermore, she tells us that the revival which led to her

joining the church took place following the death of her son,
Alvin. Alvin
died November 19, 1823, and following that painful
loss she reports that:
"..about this time there was a great
revival in religion and the whole
neighborhood was very much
aroused to the subject and we among the rest,
flocked to the
meeting house to see if there was a word of comfort for us
that
might relieve our over-charged feelings." (P. 86)
She adds that
although her husband would only attend the
first meetings, he had no objection
to her or the children "going
or BECOMING CHURCH MEMBERS." (emphasis added)

There is plenty of additional evidence that the revival Lucy
Smith refers
to did occur during the winter of 1824-1825. It was
reported in at least a
dozen newspapers and religious
periodicals. The church records show
outstanding increases due to
the reception of new converts. The Baptist Church
received 94,
the Presbyterian 99, while the Methodist work grew by 208. No

such revival bringing in "great multitudes" occurred in 1820.
It is clear
that the revival Joseph Smith, Jr. described did
not occur in 1820, but in
1824. Joseph Smith arbitrarily moved
that revival back four years to 1820 and
made it fit a First
Vision story that neither his mother nor other close
associates
had heard of in those early days. The historical facts completely

discredit Joseph Smith's First Vision story. (For further details
see,
DIALOGUE: A JOURNAL OF MORMON THOUGHT, Spring 1969, pp. 59-
100)

BIBLE READING
vs. REVELATIONS .....

About 1832, Joseph Smith, Jr. began an account of
the origin
of the Mormon church (the only one written in his own hand), that

contradicts the official First Vision story he dictated some six
years later.
The account was never finished and has only recently
been published. (See the
text in BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY
STUDIES, Spring 1969, pp. 278ff) In this
version Joseph presents
himself between the ages of twelve and fifteen being a
committed
and perceptive reader of the Bible. He claims that his STUDY OF
THE
SCRIPTURES led him to understand that all the denominations
were wrong. He
wrote: "...by searching the Scriptures I found
that mankind did not come into
the Lord but that they had
apostatised from the true and living faith and
there was no
society or denomination that built upon the Gospel of Jesus

Christ as recorded in the new testament."
Six years later, when he set
forth his official First Vision
story, he decided that he never had reached
the firm conclusion
that all churches were wrong from his study of the
Bible.
Instead, he claimed that it was DURING A VISION OF THE FATHER AND
THE
SON that he first learned this information. He presented this
as coming as a
great surprise, for he added parenthetically -
"for at this time it had NEVER
ENTERED INTO MY HEART THAT ALL
WERE WRONG." (emphasis added) That statement
even contradicted
what Joseph had said a few paragraphs earlier in the same

account. There he claimed that "I OFTEN SAID TO MYSELF ... Who of
all these
parties are right; or ARE THEY ALL WRONG TOGETHER?"
(emphasis added) Although
the former statement appears in the
original manuscript (see BYU Studies
above, p. 290), such a
serious contradiction could not be allowed to stand,
and after
Joseph's death the embarrassing words were edited out.
Even
without these words, however, the 1838 official account
is in conflict with
the 1832 version. In the 1832 account it is
his Bible reading that stirs him
to seek God, while in the 1838
story it is a non-existent revival that
motivates him.
In the 1832 version he claims to have seen only Christ,

while in the 1838 rendition both the Father and the Son appear.
In the 1832
account he already knows all the churches are wrong,
while in the 1838 story
it is the dual deities who first inform
him of this. Different people may have
different views of the
same event, but when one person tells contradictory
stories about
an event, he completely loses his credibility.

PERSECUTION vs.
ACCEPTANCE .....

The 1838 First Vision story not only runs into trouble
with
Joseph's earlier 1832 version, it is also contradicted by what we
know
about his early years in Palmyra. In his official version
Joseph claims he was
persecuted by all the churches in his area
"because I continued to affirm I
had seen a vision." However,
Orsemus Turner, an apprentice printer in Palmyra
until 1822, was
in the same juvenile debating club with Joseph Smith. He
recalled
that Joseph "after catching a spark of Methodism ... became a
very
passable exhorter in evening meetings." (HISTORY OF THE
PIONEER SETTLEMENT OF
PHELPS AND GORHAM'S PURCHASE, 1851, p. 214)
Thus, instead of being opposed and
persecuted as his 1838 account
claims, young Joseph was welcomed and allowed
to exhort during
the Methodist's evening preaching. Furthermore, no one,
either
Mormon or non-Mormon, seems ever to have heard of Joseph's
encounter
with two divine Personages until after 1838. (see this
admission in DIALOGUE,
Autumn 1966, pp. 30-31; SAINTS HERALD,
June 29, 1959, p. 21)

From all
available lines of evidence, therefore, Joseph's
First Vision story appears to
be a fabrication. There was NO
REVIVAL anywhere in the Palmyra area in 1820,
Joseph was
WELCOMED, NOT PERSECUTED by the Methodists. His 1832 account

represents him as PERCEIVING FROM HIS PERSONAL BIBLE STUDY that
all the
churches were apostate, while his 1838 account said it
"NEVER ENTERED INTO MY
HEART that all were wrong." His 1832
version claimed ONLY A VISION OF CHRIST,
while the 1838 story
transformed this into THE FATHER AND THE SON. No one ever
heard
such a story until after he dictated it in 1838.
In the light of
such strong contradictory evidence, the
First Vision story must be regarded as
only the invention of
Joseph Smith's highly imaginative mind. The facts and
Joseph's
own words discredit it.


This work is presented with the
earnest prayer that sincere
people everywhere may perceive the fallacy and
danger of
Mormonism and will not become entangled in it, and that the dear

Mormon people who are unfortunately deceived by it, may be
reclaimed and find
the true Way of salvation in the Bible and the
blessed Saviour whom it
reveals.

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the
Life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." (John 14:6)

We also pray that
the earnest reader upon discerning these
things will search the Word of God,
the Bible, the only Book
whose message is "able to make thee wise unto
salvation through
faith which is in Christ Jesus." (II Timothy 3:15)

For
Further information write:

Utah Christian Tract Society
P.O. Box 725
La Mesa,
California 92041

SALVATION THROUGH CHRIST

vs:
THE EXALTATION OF MAN

God's
word, the BIBLE, which clearly states that our
salvation is through the shed
blood of Jesus Christ, alone
through one faith and His Grace --- not as a
result of
fabricating our own righteousness by "good works" by
attempting to
become "perfect" as a result of laws and
ordinances of any organization.


I JOHN 5:11-13

"And this is the record, that God hath
given us eternal
life, and this life is in His son. He that hath the Son
hath
life; and he that hath not the Son hath not life.
These things have I written
unto you that believe on the
name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye
have
eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the
Son of God."

God
spells it out - you either have life through the Son
or you reject Him. It is
either Heaven or the Lake of Fire;
no "grey areas"; no half-way locations. You
either accept
the Son or you reject Him.

Mormonism claims to accept Jesus
----

"We have His name on our church" - But we have now
seen that the
Jesus of Mormonism is a different Jesus
- not any resembalance to the REAL
Jesus. Further, by
rejecting the total sufficiency of the New Covenant of
the
sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for their personal sins -
and instead
electing to attempt the old covenant of works,
laws, temples, etc ----- they
nullify the offer of eternal
life as a gift by God's Love and immeasurable
Grace:

GALATIANS 2:21

"I do not frustrate the Grace of
God: for if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."
As a
result, the Mormon believing in the Mormon Jesus, and
not the real Jesus of
the BIBLE; and following a life only
of works, even with utmost sincerity,
without the saving
faith in the one who died for them, personally, is LOST.
We
don't say that - GOD says that - in HIS Word - The BIBLE


THREE KINGDOMS?

Let's go further ---- Mormonism claims three
"heavens."
They take I CORINTHIANS 15:37-49 totally out of context to
arrive
at this false teaching. Where Paul is declaring that
an individual's
resurrected body is different in Glory from
his earthly body - as the sun
differs from the moon, from
the stars - Mormonism has declared three kingdoms
of Heaven:

TELESTIAL KINGDOM

Where all the wicked go,
whether they've rejected God and
Jesus all their life or not - Murderers,
etc !

TERRESTIAL KINGDOM

Where good and honorable persons
go - they only failed to
accept the "gospel" of Mormonism.


CELESTIAL KINGDOM

a) LOWER DEGREE
Good Mormons, but failed
to marry in the Temple and having
"other" imperfections. These will be allowed
to be angels.

b) MIDDLE DEGREE
Mormons who failed to accept the complete
"gospel" but were
married in the Temple, sealed to many wives, and are in
the
process of being exalted through baptism of the dead, etc.

c) HIGHEST
DEGREE - EXALTATION
"Perfect" Mormons. They will be gods themselves just like

God the Father. Will have eternal, multiple, marriages for
the purpose of
sexually procreating billions of spirit
children to populate another world
that they will reign
over as that world's god.

MORMON
TERMINOLOGY

Let's be "clear" on some important terms - even though you
will
find Mormon writers interchanging them, in a strict
sense they are:


SALVATION

Resurrection only; immortality, or simply
life after death.
This is what Christ's death on the cross "achieved". This

is what all mankind has by the Grace of God as a free gift.
But "salvation"
for what? This is just the bottom of the
ladder.

"Those who gain only this
general or unconditional
salvation will still be judged according to their
works and
receive places in a Terrestial or Telestial kingdom. They
will,
therefore, be damned; their eternal progression will
be cut short; they will
not fill the full measure of their
creation, but in eternity will be
ministering servants to
more worthy persons."
Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon
Doctrine, "Salvation",pg 669,670
(1966 Edition)

So, you see, salvation as a
gift through Christ is nothing
special to a Mormon. When they say, "Jesus is
our Savior",
this is what they give Him "credit" for!

Now, let's find out
what the goal of Mormonism is. Who are
these "more worthy persons" ?


EXALTATION = Eternal Life in the Highest Degree of the
Celestial Kingdom. This
is what Mormonism teaches day in
and day out. McConkie continues -


"Conditional or individual salvation, that which comes by
grace coupled with
gospel obedience, consist in receiving
an inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom
of God. This kind
of salvation follows faith, repentance, baptism, receipt
of
the Holy Ghost, and continued righteousness to the end of
one's mortal
life. (D & C 20:29 & 2 Nephi 9:23-24). All
others are damned --- Even those in
the celestial kingdom
however, who do not go on to exaltation, will have

immortality only and not eternal life --- they will be
'ministering servants,
to minister for and to those who are
worthy of a far more, and an exceeding
and an eternal
weight of glory'. They will live "separately and singly" in
an
unmarried state 'without exaltation, in their saved
condition, to all
eternity' (D & C 132:16,17). Salvation in
its true and full meaning is
synonymous with exaltation or
eternal life and consist in gaining an
inheritance in the
highest of the three heavens within the Celestial Kingdom

--- It is the salvation which saints seek --- This full
salvation is obtained
in and through the continuation of
the family unit in eternity, and those who
obtain it are
gods --- If it had not been for Joseph Smith and the

restoration, there would be no salvation. There is no
salvation outside The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints."

"Then shall they be gods,
because they have no end - Then
shall they be gods, because they have all
power ---"
(D & C 132:20)

"Here then is eternal life - to know the only wise
and true
God; and you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves,
and to be
kings and priest to God, the same as all gods
have done before you --- and to
sit in glory, as do those
who sit in everlasting power --- What is it? To
inherit the
same power, the same glory and the same exaltation, until
you
arrive at the station of a god ---"
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg
345-347;
Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, "Godhood", 1966
Edition, pg 321

History of the Church, Volume 6, page 306

"They are they into whose hands the
Father has given all
things - they are they who are priest and kings, who
have
received of His fulness, and his glory -- they are gods --"
Doctrine &
Covenants, 76:55-58

"As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become."

Lorenzo Snow, Millennial Star, Vol 54, pg 404

"Mormonism does not tend to
debase God to the level of man,
but to exalt man to the perfection of God."

Charles W. Penrose,Millenial Star,Vol 23, pg 181

The above quotes appear in
Milton R. Hunter's, The Gospel
Through The Ages (1958, pges 105-107) under the
chapter
heading "Men may become gods". Hunter surprisingly supports

Mormonism's view of the Godhead of man by noting (on pg 117):
"Even the
doctrine of a knowledge of God as the avenue to
Godhood made its way outward
from the Divine Fountain of
Truth into the heathenistic religions of the
Mediterranean
world. The teaching of the HERMETIC pagan cult sound quite

familiar to those who are acquainted with the doctrine
taught by Jesus, by
John the Beloved, by Paul, and by
Joseph Smith, the American Prophet".

Sorry,
but only the teachings of the latter sound familiar.
Nowhere in the BIBLE do
we find GOD saying man can reach
godhood. Yes, we do find such a teaching in
the BIBLE ---
yet it is Satan who is doing the talking !!

Computers For
Christ prays that this has been interesting
and has opened your eyes to the
false nature of the Mormon
teachings. Leave us a message at termination if you
wish us
to mail you any additional material.
** END OF TEXT **


TEN REASONS WHY I CANNOT BE A MORMON

by Rev. John Hornok

1. ÿMORMONISM DOES NOT TEACH
THAT THE BIBLE IS THE INFALLIBLE WORK OF
GOD. ÿÿ"We ÿbelieve the Bible to the
the Word of God as far as it ÿis
translated ÿcorrectly; ÿÿwe also believe the
book of Mormon to be ÿthe
word of God" (Articles of Faith, No. 8).

As
ÿChristians we believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old ÿand ÿNew
Testaments ÿto
ÿthe ÿthe verbally inspired Word ÿof ÿGod, ÿÿthe ÿfinal
authority ÿfor ÿfaith
and life, ÿinerrant in ÿthe ÿoriginal ÿwritings,
infallible and God-breathed
(2 ÿTim. ÿ3:16-17; ÿ2 Pet. ÿ1:20-21; ÿMatt
5:18).

2. ÿÿMORMONISM TEACHES
THAT GOD IS AN EXALTED MAN AND HAS A ÿPHYSICAL
BODY. ÿÿ"God himself was once
as we are now, ÿand is an exalted ÿman"
(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph
Smith, ÿpg. 345). ÿ"The Father has a
body of flesh and bones as tangible as
man's..." ÿ(Doc. ÿ& Cov., ÿSec.
131:22)

The Bible says, ÿ"God is not a
man..." ÿ(Num. ÿ23:19). ÿ"God is a
Spirit; ÿÿand they that worship Him must
worship Him in spirit and ÿin
truth" ÿÿ(John 4:24). ÿ"A spirit hath not flesh
and ÿbones..." ÿÿ(Lk.
24:39).

3. MORMONISM TEACHES THAT CHRIST AND THE
DEVIL ARE BROTHERS. "...that
Lucifer, ÿthe son of morning, ÿis our elder
brother and the brother of
Jesus Christ" (Mormon Doctrine by Bruce McConkie,
pp. 163-4).

The Bible says that the devil is a created being, ÿcreated by
God.
"thou ÿwast ÿperfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast ÿcreated,

till ÿiniquity ÿwas found in thee" ÿ(Ezekiel 28:15). ÿÿ"For ÿby ÿHim

(Christ) ÿwere all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in
earth,
ÿvisible and invisible, whether they be thrones, ÿof dominions,
or
principalities, ÿor powers; ÿall things were created by Him and for
Him..."
(Col. 1:15-17).

4. MORMONISM TEACHES THAT JESUS WAS MARRIED AND THE HE IS
POLYGAMOUS.
"We ÿsay ÿit ÿwas ÿJesus Christ who was married at ÿCana ÿof
ÿGalilee"
(Journal of Discourses, ÿVol 2, p. 80). ÿMormonism teaches that
Jesus
was ÿthe ÿnatural ÿchild ÿof Adam and Mary. ÿ"When ÿthe ÿVirgin ÿMary

conceived ÿthe Child Jesus....He was not begotten by the ÿHoly ÿGhost.
And who
is his Father? ÿHe is the first of the human family" (Brigham
Young, Journal
of Discourses, pp. 50-51).

The Bible says, ÿ"In the beginning was the
Word (Christ), ÿand the
Word was with God, and the Word was God;...The Word
was made flesh and
dwelt among us..." ÿ(John 1:1, 14). ÿ"Then Mary said unto
the angel,
How ÿshall ÿthis ÿbe, ÿseeing that I know not a man? ÿAnd ÿthe
ÿangel
answered... The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee..."(Lk. 1:34-35).

5.
ÿÿMORMONISM TEACHES THAT THE TRUE CHURCH CEASED TO EXIST UNTIL ÿIT
WAS
RESTORED TO JOSEPH SMITH. ÿThe church (LDS) was restored April 6,
1830 by
Joseph Smith (Doc. & Cov., 20:1).

Jesus ÿChrist said, ÿ"I will build my
church and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it" ÿ(Matt. ÿ16:18).
ÿ"for other foundation
can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus
Christ" (1 Cor.
3:11). ÿÿ"...And ÿare built upon the foundation of the
ÿapostles ÿand
prophets, ÿÿJesus ÿChrist himself being the chief cornerstone"
ÿÿ(Eph.
2:20).

6. ÿÿMORMONISM TEACHES ANOTHER (PERVERTED) ÿGOSPEL THAN THAT
ÿOF ÿTHE
BIBLE. ÿÿThe gospel to Mormonism is: ÿ"Faith, ÿRepentance,
ÿBaptism,
Receiving the Holy Spirit by laying on of hands, ÿMorality,
ÿÿLoyalty,
Tithing, ÿWord of Wisdom, Duty Celestial Marriage (for eternity)"
(LDS
chart of FREE AGENCY and Articles of Faith, No. 4).

The Bible says,
"Moreover brethren, I ÿdeclare unto you the gospel
that he was buried, ÿand
that he rose again the third day according to
the scriptures" ÿ(1 ÿCor. 15:1,
ÿ3-4). ÿ"if any man preach any other
gospel unto you than that ye have
received, let him be accursed" (Gal.
1:9).

7. ÿÿMORMONISM ÿTEACHES
ÿSALVATION FOR THE THE DEAD ÿBY ÿPROXY ÿWATER
BAPTISM. This doctrine is based
on one misunderstood Scripture: "Else
what shall they do which are baptized
for the dead, ÿif the dead ÿrise
not at all? Why are they then baptized for
the dead?" (1 Cor. 15:29).

Paul ÿdid not practice baptism for the dead.
ÿHe excluded himself
by using the pronoun "they" rather than "we" ÿor "ye".
He is asking a
question ÿrather than making a statement. ÿ"It is appointed
unto ÿman
once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27).

8.
ÿMORMONISM TEACHES GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH FOR THE DEAD. ÿ"Let ÿus, therefore,
ÿas a church and a people, and as Latter-day Saints, ÿoffer
unto the Lord an
offering in righteousness; ÿand let us present in his
holy temple, when it is
finished, a book containing the records of our
dead, ÿwhich shall be worth of
all acceptation" ÿ(Doc. ÿ& ÿCov., ÿSec.
128:24).

The ÿBible ÿsays,
ÿÿ"Neither ÿgive ÿheed ÿto ÿfables ÿand ÿendless
genealogies" ÿÿ(1 ÿÿTim.
ÿÿ1:4). ÿ"but ÿavoid ÿfoolish ÿquestion ÿand
genealogies..." (Titus 3:9).


9. ÿÿMORMONISM TEACHES THAT THERE ARE MODERN DAY PROPHETS AND ÿMODERN
DAY
REVELATIONS FROM GOD. Mormonism claims that Joseph Smith received
the
ÿAaronic ÿPriesthood ÿfrom John ÿthe ÿBaptist. ÿÿThe ÿMelchizedek Priesthood
and Apostleship ÿwas ÿrestored ÿby Peter, ÿÿJames ÿand John
shortly afterwards
in 1829 (Doc. & Cov., Sec. 13).

The Bible says, ÿ"God...hath in these
last days spoken unto us ÿby
his ÿSon, ÿwhom he hath appointed heir of all
things, ÿby whom also he
made ÿthe worlds" ÿ(Heb. ÿ1:1-2). ÿThe test of a
prophet is given ÿin
Deut. 18:20-22.

10. ÿÿMORMONISM ÿTEACHES THAT SALVATION
DEPENDS UPON ÿGOOD ÿWORKS ÿAND
ACCEPTANCE ÿOF ÿJOSEPH SMITH. ÿ"No man who
rejects the ÿtestimony ÿof
Joseph ÿSmith can enter the kingdom of God"
ÿ(Doctrines of ÿSalvation,
vol. 1 pg. 190). "Men have work to do it they
would obtain salvation"
(Doctrines of Salvation. vol. 3, pg 91).

The
ÿBible ÿteaches ÿthat salvation is provided ÿby ÿJesus ÿChrist
alone, ÿÿ"for
ÿthere is none other name under heaven given among ÿmen,
whereby we must be
saved" (Acts 4:10-12). ÿ"For by grace are ye saved
through faith, and that
not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Not
of works, lest any man should
boast" (Eph. 2:8-9).




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Divine Truths in the Book of Mormon

Anyone ÿvisited ÿby
ÿa ÿMormon Missionary has ÿheard ÿthe ÿElder's
testimony ÿconcerning the Book
of Mormon: ÿThat he knows this book is
the ÿWord ÿof God and that the founder
of the Mormon ÿChurch, ÿÿJoseph
Smith, ÿJr., translated it by the gift and
power of God. Further, the
prospect is encouraged sincerely to study the Book
of Mormon and ÿ"The
divine truths it contains."
The Book of Mormon indeed
does contain a number of "divine truths",
first set forth in the Bible, the
most important of which are:

1. GOD IS SPIRIT

Alma 18:28 (p. 242) -
"Believest, thou that this Great Spirit, who
is God, created all things".

2.
TRINITARIAN VIEW OF GOD

3 ÿNephi 11:27 (p. 422) - "Verily I say unto
you, that the Father
and ÿthe Son and the Holy Ghost are one." ÿIn addition,
ÿthree ÿclose
associates ÿof Joseph Smith who gave testimony of the
authenticity ÿof
the Book of Mormon, close with words: "And the honor be to
the Father,
and ÿto ÿthe ÿSon and to the Holy Ghost, ÿWHICH IS ÿONE ÿGOD.
ÿÿAmen."
(emphasis added) This endorsement is found in the front of every
Book
of ÿMormon and further documents the Book of Mormon's ÿacknowledgement

of the triune nature of God.

3. GOD IS UNCHANGEABLE

Moroni 8:18 (p.
517) - ÿ"For I know that God is not a partial God,
neither a changeable being;
ÿbut he is unchangeable from all ÿeternity
to all eternity."

4. NO SALVATION
AFTER DEATH

Mosiah 3:25 ÿ(p. 141) - "And if they be evil they are
consigned to
an ÿawful view of their own guilt and abominations, ÿwhich doth
ÿcause
them ÿto ÿshrink from the presence of the Lord into a state of
ÿmisery
and endless torment, ÿfrom whence they can no more return;
ÿÿtherefore
they have drunk damnation to their own souls."

5. ONLY TWO
DESTINATIONS AFTER DEATH

Mosiah 16:11 ÿ(p. 166) - "If they be good, ÿto
the resurrection of
endless life and happiness; ÿand if they be evil, ÿto the
resurrection
of endless damnation."

6. SALVATION BY CHRIST"S WORK - NOT
MAN'S

Helaman 5:9 (p. 369) - "...remember that there is no other way
nor
means ÿwhereby ÿmen can be saved, ÿonly through the atoning ÿblood ÿof

Jesus Christ, ÿwho shall come, yea, ÿremember that he cometh to redeem
the
world."


The Book of Mormon also emphasizes the need for spiritual
rebirth.
For ÿexample ÿAlma 5:14 ÿstates "And now behold, ÿI ÿask of ÿyou,
ÿÿmy
brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye

received ÿhis image in your countenances? ÿHave ye ÿexperienced ÿthis mighty
change in your hearts?"
Much ÿof ÿthe ÿmajor theology set forth in the
Book of ÿMormon ÿis
indeed in harmony with orthodox Christianity. ÿHowever,
ÿmany who are
visited by the LDS Missionaries are unaware that the present
ÿtheology
of ÿthe Mormon Church is very different from their own Book of
Mormon.
Further, ÿnot only are today's major doctrines different, ÿthey are
in
total ÿopposition with this work of Joseph Smith, ÿJr., ÿfor which ÿhe

claimed divine inspiration.

Mormon ÿtheology is not contained in, ÿbut
rather contradicted ÿby
the ÿBook ÿof ÿMormon. ÿThe members of the Mormon
Church now turn ÿto
newer ÿpublications ÿand ÿrevelations for their ÿbeliefs.
ÿÿA ÿÿbrief
examination of some of these will document the contradictions.


1. ÿÿMormonism today teaches "The Father has a body of flesh and bones
as
tangible as man's" (Doctrine & Covenants 130:22).

2. ÿJoseph Smith, later in
his life, flatly denied the Trinity: ÿ"Many
men say there is one God, ÿthe
Father, ÿthe Son and the Holy Ghost are
one God! ÿI saw that is a strange God
anyhow - three in one, ÿand one
in ÿthree!" ÿHe further concludes that the
Father, ÿSon and the ÿHoly
Ghost ÿare not one God, ÿbut rather three Gods
(History of the ÿChurch
6:474, 476).

3. The LDS Church no longer adheres to
the unchangeable nature of God,
but ÿrather ÿstates: ÿ"God himself was once
as we are now and ÿis ÿan
exalted man... We have imagined and supposed that
God was God from all
eternity. I will refute that idea and take away the
veil, so that you
may see". (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.
345).

4. ÿÿBruce ÿR. ÿMcConkie announces on page 73 ÿof his ÿwork,
ÿÿ'Mormon
Doctrine': ÿÿ"The Lord has ordained baptism for the dead as the
means
whereby ÿall ÿhis ÿworthy children of all ages ÿcan ÿbecome ÿheirs ÿof

salvation in his kingdom."

5. ÿÿMormonism today informs its members that all
mankind will ÿoccupy
one of three heavenly kingdoms. ÿThe highest is the
Celestial Kingdom
(which itself contains various levels). ÿThis kingdom is
reserved for
all ÿfaithful Mormons and could lead to Godhood for the ÿmale
ÿmembers
there. ÿThe middle Kingdom, the Terrestrial Kingdom, is for those
who
did ÿnot ÿaccept the gospel according to Mormonism, ÿbut who lived ÿan

honorable ÿlife. ÿÿThe ÿlowest or Telestial ÿKingdom ÿstill ÿcontains

murderers, ÿÿadulterers, ÿliars and thieves. ÿ(Doctrine ÿ& ÿCovenants section
ÿ76). ÿÿHell ÿin Mormonism is usually thought to ÿbe ÿonly ÿa
temporary
ÿstate of suffering, ÿwhich can be terminated through ÿself-
atonement. ÿÿIn
ÿsummary, ÿall will be resurrected and ÿreceive ÿsome
degree of glory,
according to Mormonism.

6. Mormons believe not in the infinite atonement of
Christ, but rather
that ÿ"redemption ÿfrom ÿpersonal sins can only ÿbe
ÿobtained ÿthrough
obedience ÿto ÿthe ÿrequirements of the Gospel, ÿAND A
ÿLIFE ÿOF ÿGOOD
WORKS." (emphasis added) (Talmage, Articles of Faith pgs.
478-479)

These ÿchanges ÿand contradictions contained within ÿthese
ÿeasily
available ÿLDS ÿScriptures leave no doubt as to the human, ÿÿman
ÿmade
origin of Mormonism.
While ÿMormons regard the Bible as the Word of
God, ÿthe Bible ÿis
actually placed lower and superseded by their other
Scriptures, ÿwhich
in addition to the Book of Mormon include the Doctrine &
Covenants and
the ÿPearl ÿof Great Price. ÿThis devaluation of the Bible ÿis
ÿfound
within the LDS Articles of Faith, ÿin the Pearl of Great Price,
ÿwhere
it ÿis ÿstated ÿthat Mormons "believe the Bible in so ÿfar ÿas ÿit
ÿis
correctly translated."
God's ÿword, ÿÿthe Bible, ÿhas definitely
stood the test of ÿtime,
whereas in its short existence the Book of Mormon has
not. The Bible,
has been used by and confirmed by archeology, - the Book of
Mormon has
not. ÿThe Bible, ÿhas through recent ancient manuscript
ÿdiscoveries,
been ÿdemonstrated to have been transmitted and translated
accurately,
where the Book of Mormon contains nearly 4000 textual changes from
the
first ÿedition ÿin 1830 ÿto the present editions used today, ÿand ÿhas

received further changes in the new 1981 "Triple Combination" edition.
The
ÿpresence ÿof ÿ"Divine Truths" ÿwithin the Book of ÿMormon ÿis
merely a result
of Joseph Smith, ÿJr. ÿincorporating much of the Bible
into his work. (see
'The use of the Bible in the Book of Mormon by H.
Michael ÿMarquardt).
ÿÿThus, ÿthe Book of Mormon must be regarded ÿas
fiction, not as inspired
Scripture.
Changes within Mormonism and the Book of Mormon make it clear
that
Mormonism is not from God. ÿGod's word does not change. Jesus Christ

is the same yesterday, ÿtoday and forever (Hebrews 13:8) ÿand His Word
shall
never pass away (Psalm 119:89; Matthew 24:35). The Jesus Christ
who ÿshed his
blood on Calvary's cross to save you is not the Jesus of
present-day
ÿMormonism. ÿÿJesus ÿinvites all people to ÿexperience ÿa
spiritual ÿrebirth
ÿand to receive the free gift of ÿeternal ÿlife ÿby
trusting in him alone for
salvation.

Write ÿto us and let us share with you more information
concerning
our Risen Saviour Jesus Christ and how you can receive Him.



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P.O. Box 15081, Santa Ana,
CA. 92705 (714) 832-9385


Information from the

NATIONAL
MUSEUM OF OF NATURAL HISTORY
Smithsonian Institution
Washington D.C.

Your ÿrecent ÿinquiry ÿconcerning ÿthe Book ÿof ÿMormon
ÿhas ÿbeen
received in the Smithsonian's Department of Anthropology.

The
ÿbook ÿof Mormon is a religious document and not a ÿscientific
guide. ÿÿThe
Smithsonian Institution does not use it in archeological
research. Because
the Smithsonian Institution receives many inquiries
regarding the book of
Mormon, ÿwe have prepared a "Statement Regarding
the Book of Mormon," a copy
of which is enclosed for your information.
This statement includes answers to
questions most commonly asked about
the Book of Mormon.



PREPARED BY
THE DEPARTMENT OF
ANTHROPOLOGY
STATEMENT REGARDING THE BOOK OF MORMON

--------------------------------------

1. ÿÿThe Smithsonian
Institution has never used the Book of Mormon in
any way as a scientific
guide. ÿThe Smithsonian archaeologists see no
direct ÿconnection between
archeology of the New World and the subject
matter of the book.

2. The
physical type of American Indian is basically Mongoloid, being
most closely
related to that of the peoples of eastern, ÿcentral, ÿand
northeastern ÿÿAsia.
ÿÿArcheological ÿevidence ÿindicates ÿthat ÿÿthe
ancestors ÿof the present
Indians came into the New World -- ÿprobably
over ÿa land bridge known to have
existed in the Bering Strait ÿregion
during the last Ice Age -- ÿin a
continuing series of small migrations
beginning from about 25,000 to 30,000
years ago.

3. ÿÿPresent ÿevidence indicates that the fist people to ÿreach
ÿthis
continent from the East were the Norsemen who who briefly visited ÿthe

northeastern part of North America around A.D. ÿ1000 ÿand then settled
in
ÿGreenland. ÿThere is nothing to show that they reached Mexico ÿor
Central
America.

4. ÿÿOne ÿof ÿthe main lines of evidence ÿsupporting ÿthe
ÿscientific
finding ÿthat contacts with Old World civilizations, ÿif ÿindeed
ÿthey
occurred at all, ÿwere of very little significance for the development

of ÿAmerican ÿIndian ÿcivilizations, ÿÿis the fact that ÿnone ÿof ÿthe

principal ÿOld World domesticated ÿfood plants or animals (except ÿthe
dog)
ÿÿoccurred in the New ÿWorld ÿin pre-Columbian times. ÿÿAmerican
Indians had
ÿno ÿwheat, ÿbarley, ÿoats, ÿmillet, rice, ÿcattle, ÿpigs,
chickens, horses,
ÿdonkeys, ÿcamels ÿbefore 1492. ÿ(camels and horses
were in the Americas,
along with the bison, mammoth, mastodon, but all
these animals became extinct
around 10,000 B.C. ÿat the time the early
big game hunters spread across the
Americas.)

5. Iron, steel, glass, and silk were not used in the New World
before
1492 ÿ(except for occasional use of unsmelted meteoric iron).
ÿNative
copper ÿwas worked in various locations in pre-Columbian ÿtimes,
ÿÿbut
true ÿmetallurgy was limited to southern Mexico and the Andean region,

where its occurrance in late prehistoric times involved gold, ÿsilver,
copper,
and their alloys, but not iron.

6. ÿThere is a possibility that the spread
of cultural traits ÿacross
the Pacific to Mesoamerica and the northwestern
coast of South America
began several hundred years before the Christian era.
ÿHowever, ÿÿany
such ÿinter-hemispheric ÿcontacts appear to have been the
ÿresults ÿof
accidental voyages originating in eastern and southern Asia. It
is by
no ÿmeans ÿcertain that even such contacts occurred with ÿthe ÿancient

Egyptians, ÿÿHebrews, ÿor other peoples of Western Asia and ÿthe ÿNear East.

7. ÿÿNo ÿreputable ÿEgyptologist or other ÿspecialist ÿon ÿOld ÿWorld

archeology, ÿand no expert on New World prehistory, ÿhas discovered or

confirmed any relationship between archeological remains in Mexico and

archeological remains in Egypt.

8. ÿÿReports of findings of ancient
Egyptian, ÿHebrew, ÿand other Old
World ÿwritings ÿin ÿthe ÿNew World ÿin
ÿpre-Columbian ÿcontexts ÿhave
frequently ÿappeared in newspapers, ÿmagazines
and sensational ÿbooks.
None ÿof ÿthese ÿclaims ÿhas ÿstood up ÿto
ÿexamination ÿby ÿreputable
scholars. ÿNo inscriptions using Old World forms
of writing have been
shown to have occurred in any part of the Americas before
1492 ÿexcept
for a few Norse rune stones which have been found in Greenland.

9. ÿÿThere ÿare ÿcopies of the Book of Mormon in the library ÿof ÿthe

National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.


NOTE: ÿÿThis
article is an exact reproduction of a letter compiled ÿby
The Smithsonian
Institution that was received by Computers for Christ,
and has been graciously
provided free of charge by them.

For your own copy, write to:

The
Smithsonian Institute
National Museum of Natural History
Department of
Anthropology
Washington D.C. 20560


Computers For Christ, Panama City,
Fl.





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